| Selecting Faucets |
|
Section 13 showed you how bathroom plumbing systems work and how rough plumbing is installed. Rough plumbing, remember, is all the pipes that go into the walls and under the floor. Once it is completed you install wiring, walls, cabinets, and sinks, then faucets. Rough plumbing often includes installing bathtubs and showers though not the faucets. That’s what you’re doing now. In Bathroom Plumbing you installed various types of pipe in the walls for the lavatories, bathtub, shower, and toilet. You’ll now install the faucets and other water controls for the lavatories, tub, and shower. Faucets are the termination of your plumbing supply system. Drains are the beginning of the DWV (drain-waste-vent) system. Once the sink, tub, and shower are installed it’s relatively easy to install these components with basic tools. The tools you need for installing faucets and drains include basic hand tools: wrenches and screwdrivers. Depending on what else you’re simultaneously doing you may need a pipe wrench and other specialized tools such as Allen wrenches. Fortunately, many faucet kits include the special tools you need. Materials needed are those on your material list. However, you often can change your mind. You may decide that the gold-plated faucet is a little ostentatious (and expensive) and opt for bronze. Or you can replace one type of faucet with another—as long as the fixture mounting holes are the same. You still have choices. Remodeling Savings The best shopping advice is: buy quality at discount. That is, shop around for the best quality you can almost afford and then continue shopping for the best price on that item. Sensible shopping can save you 20 percent or more and often bring the ultimate within your budget.
|
